Lakewood Mayor Bob Murphy proposed delaying a vote on the exchange until March 28, saying it had become too complex a deal to digest on short order.

The mayor’s announcement was met with applause by an audience of more than 100 residents, most of whom had come out to voice their opposition to the plan.

Diane Duffey, head of the Daniels Welchester Neighborhood Association, called the council’s move a “huge surprise” but a welcome one.

“That’s all we wanted — for citizens to catch up with where (the council was),” Duffey said.

The unusual deal called for Lakewood to build a $25.2 million lab at the Federal Center and, in exchange, receive a 59-acre parcel that the federal government owns at the southeast corner of Union Boulevard and U.S. 6.

Lakewood would then sell off pieces of the property to developers with the intention that they would be built out as part of a cohesive vision for the Federal Center Station neighborhood, complete with residential, retail and office space along a critical transportation spine between Denver and its western suburbs.

Some backers of the plan equate the opportunity to the redevelopment of Villa Italia Mall at Alameda Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard a decade ago. Belmar is considered by many to be a retail and residential jewel for Lakewood.

But many residents are concerned, not only about the financial details of the exchange but the fact that it would have been decided during the final meeting of the current council.

“Our main concern is that it’s being pushed too fast because of the election,” Duffey said before the meeting.

Council member Ramey Johnson expressed frustration that the deal had come up at the eleventh hour and just over a week before the Nov. 3 election.

Johnson, who represents the project area and is running for mayor against council member Adam Paul, said questions need to be answered regarding the project’s traffic impacts on Union Boulevard and whether the site has been adequately remediated from its days as the Denver Ordnance Plant.

Murphy, who was in his last council meeting as mayor Monday, said it is critical that the vacant parcel west of the Federal Center become something productive for the city.

His colleague, council member Shakti, agreed.

“People are excited by and large about the possibilities of this project, but they want more time to digest the information,” she said.

Originally from Boston, John Aguilar covers Denver's suburbs for The Denver Post, where he has worked since April 2014. He has also worked at the Boulder County Business Report, the Rocky Mountain News and the Boulder Daily Camera.